Humanity has spread throughout the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way. All is not well – worlds are strictly controlled and governed by the Alliance of Planets. However, for the first time a planet, Caxis, has succeeded in the unthinkable—seceding from the Alliance, sparking unrest and a wave of insurgent activity. In response, the Alliance makes public the existence of a new superweapon known as the Gravity Bomb. Marcus Fenig, a courier that travels the Perseus Arm for a living, is cut off from his wife and baby after the Alliance surrounds Caxis with a blockade. He will do anything to get back to his family.   Garrick Karn – a loyal Alliance officer who looks up to Allison – is searching for traitors using increasingly desperate tactics in the belief that any price is worth paying to keep the Alliance safe.